Piano-plate.



No. 739,380. PATENTED SEPT. 22, 1903. W. BIEGER.

1 PIANO PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3.1903. 110 MODEL.

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witnesses.-

W. BIEGBR.

PIANO PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED F113. 3, 1903.

PATENTED SEPT. 22, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ll HR UNITED STATES Patented September 22, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILHELM BIEGER, OF HEILBRONN-ON-THE-NEO KAR, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO WILHELM RUDOLPH, OF GIESSEN, GERMANY.

PIANO-PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,380, datedSeptember 22, 1903.

Application filed February 3, 1903.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I VVILHELM BIEGER, a subject of the King ofWiirtemberg, residing at Heilbronn-on-the-Neckar, in the Kingdom ofWiirtemberg, German Empire, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Piano-Plates, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in piano-plates.

In fitting piano-plates of prior constructions the sounding-board bridgeis secured directly to the sounding-board and the iron bars forconnecting the hitch-pin plate to the wrestpin plate are so arrangedthat they only oppose the pull of the strings on one side, so that astrong wooden or iron structure behind the sounding-board is necessary.

The present invention relates to a pianoplate of such construction thata one-sided pull of the strings is avoided, the pull being transferredto the main portion of the plate i. e., to the dead-poinb-so that thereis no leverage. This is effected by iron bars being provided between thesounding-board and the sounding-board bridge for the purpose of directlyconnecting the hitch-pin plate with the wrest-pin plate below the levelof the strings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one form of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan of the plate located on the sounding-board withstretched strings. Fig. 2 is a plan of the plate Without the stringing.Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line A A of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectionon the line B B of Fig. 1.

As Fig. 1 shows, the sounding-board bridge Ct is not secured directly tothe soundingboard I), but rests on the stiffening-ribs c of the boardI). These ribs in prior constructions are not located, as here, on thetop of the board, but on the under side or back. It is not, however,absolutely essential according to the present invention to arrange theseSerial No. 141.682. (No model.)

wooden ribs 0 on the top of the board, as the 5 figure shows. They mayalso be located, as formerly, below-that is, on the under side of thesounding-boardand between the bridge a and the latter blocks, woodenrosettes, or the like are provided, so that the soundingboard bridge iselevated a suitable distance from the board in order to furnishsufficient space for a series of lower bars d. The arrangement ofthese'bars d, Fig. 2, forms the essential feature of the presentinvention. As is seen from the drawings,they connect the hitch-plate pine directly to the Wrest-pin plate f below the strings and are so locatedthat the sounding-board bridge alies between the lower bars 61 and theordinary upper bars g.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- 1. The combination in a piano, of a plate, a sounding-board,asounding-board bridge and upper bars with lower bars the latterarranged between the sounding-board and the sounding-board bridge anddirectly connected to the hitch-pin plate and to the wrest-pin platebelow the level of the strings, substantially as set forth.

2. In a piano, the combination of a plate, a sounding-board, asounding-board bridge,upper bars and lower bars the latter arrangedbetween the sounding-board and the sounding-board bridge and directlyconnecting the hitch-pin plate to the wrest-pin plate below the level ofthe strings, with strengtheningribs provided on the top of thesoundingboard to serve as support for the soundingboard bridge,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILHELM BIEGER.

Witnesses:

ALBERT FRITZ, ERNST ENTENMAN.

